Chapter 173

Deploying the French Army to the Soviet Front was something La Rocque had first proposed during our talks, but to reach this conclusion, I had to do a lot of thinking and go through the process of persuading our Cabinet through considerable argument.

If La Rocque's France had officially signed an alliance with the Soviet Union, this would have been impossible, but thanks to La Rocque holding off on the alliance until the very end, a compromise was possible.

Britain and Belgium strongly opposed it, saying the French Army couldn't be trusted and citing the fact that Algeria was left to them, but they had to back down when faced with the demand to dispatch their own military force to the Eastern Front.

They received help, but they didn't want to dispatch their troops, they wanted France neutralized, and they hoped Germany would take care of the Eastern Front on its own.

They had no conscience to begin with.

In fact, the other Allied Forces besides Germany also had much to gain from the French Army's deployment to the Eastern Front.

The weak Belgian Army, which had few troops left and no motivation, was put to use guarding Paris instead of being dragged to the Eastern Front only to create a hole in the lines.

Besides, Britain and the Netherlands could now project their entire military force into Asia without hesitation, so wasn't this a good thing for them in the end?

When the condition was added to limit the French Army, excluding the 100,000 troops needed to maintain public security in Algeria until the war's end and the Finnish Expeditionary Force, France argued it would dispatch all its remaining forces to Finland.

However, it was obvious that managing supplies would be impossible, so after discussions, we reached an agreement of one million men.

In truth, even that would be a bit of a burden, but France was desperate in its own way.

Of course, we also had to put in place a minimum safety measure, just in case.

It was decided to keep the Allied Forces stationed in Paris until the reparations were fully paid to prepare for a 'contingency', and supplies from the French homeland would be transported via Belgian and German railroads to Stettin, then by sea.

This way, we would effectively be managing the supplies for the French Army, isolated across the Baltic Sea.

Additionally, their reparations would be reduced based on the duration the French Army maintained the front and the damage inflicted on the Soviet Army.

The reparations would decrease, but even if they just held their ground, the Soviet Union would have to commit troops, which would directly lead to a reduction in our war costs and casualties, so it wasn't a waste.

If anything, they needed an incentive like that to maintain enough will to fight to at least hold their positions.

Meanwhile, Churchill argued that indicting La Rocque as a war criminal was not enough, and that other government officials and general officers—especially Charles de Gaulle, the commander of the UK Mainland Invasion Force—must be indicted as war criminals.

However, my judgment was that the Prime Minister's indictment was sufficient for symbolic purposes.

Unlike Italy, they had no reason to secure legitimacy by replacing the regime and denouncing the previous one, and it was by no means wise to do something that would only earn the animosity of the very regime that was to implement our treaty.

As if he had prepared in advance, La Rocque argued that de Gaulle had simply followed orders from his home country and had done his best to prevent war crimes even then, based on the prohibition orders de Gaulle had issued multiple times to prevent war crimes in the occupied British territory.

Furthermore, he had succeeded in maintaining discipline during the long isolation across the English Channel, and de Gaulle was the kind of person whose unique pride would not allow him to tolerate sabotage.

His political skill and leadership were unparalleled, even before considering his tactical ability, and naturally, there was no one more suitable to be the commander of the French Army dispatched to the Finnish Front.

Thanks to that, Prime Minister de Geer of the Netherlands, who wanted to quickly conclude the peace negotiations with me, also sided with La Rocque, and even Churchill could not deny that de Gaulle was the only French general who could properly maintain the French Army dropped into Finland.

It wasn't without its risks, but there was likely no better way to bring the Western Front to a swift conclusion under conditions acceptable to France.

Finally, with the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam on February 18, 1941, the war between the Allied Powers and France officially came to an end.

-

Before the talks, there had been quite a bit of internal discussion within Germany about the deployment location for the French Army.

The Eastern Front, where the main Soviet force was located, was out of the question.

If we did that, friendly fire incidents would erupt, eventually leading to disputes, and if units started surrendering to the Soviet Union, it would become uncontrollable.

It's better not to have such a time bomb that would only needlessly collapse the front line.

The judgment was that it would be better to separate them into an independent front army, let them maintain their sense of belonging as the French Army, and place them under the command of a commander with excellent control—that is, de Gaulle.

That left only two candidates: the Asian Front and Finland.

However, to send the French Army to the Asian Front, we couldn't disband the French Navy. How would a France without a navy supply its troops all the way in distant Asia?

Britain could provide the supplies, but speaking coldly, Britain at this point would be even harsher on France than Germany, so it would obviously just create conflict.

Since Britain wouldn't accept anything less than the disbandment of the French Navy, the only option left by process of elimination was Finland.

The problem was that compared to France's relatively temperate climate, Finland was a land of truly hellish severe cold.

“To think we have to send our army to that harsh Finland…”

La Rocque had signed in the end, but he was feeling considerable doubt.

“Aren't we preparing winter gear for you?”

From the time of our battles with Italy in the Alps Mountains to the point when hostility with the Soviet Union became clear, we had been producing winter gear with all our might.

As someone who knew the lessons from the German-Soviet War in the original history, this was something I could never overlook.

Moreover, after establishing friendly relations with Finland, we even received their know-how on winter gear and began the full-scale production of specialized winter warfare equipment.

With the spare capacity the Nazis of the original history used to produce poison gas and transport Jewish people, we are thoroughly preparing for winter warfare.

And to coincide with this dispatch of the French Army to Finland, we decided to collect the winter gear supplied to our frontline units and provide it to the French forces.

February is almost over anyway. It's not like we can advance into the Soviet homeland right away, and there's a long time until next winter, but spring in Finland is much colder than winter in France.

“With French money, that is.”

I gave a bitter smile at La Rocque's indifferent reaction.

Of course, it wasn't free. It was used equipment, but we actually sold it to France with a slight premium.

This was also the reason my father sided with me on this matter. Selling off existing equipment for a small profit and then producing new equipment is good for the companies and a gain for the government.

You can't make machine guns in a clothing factory anyway, so running them diligently will stimulate the German economy.

Within Germany, there were terrifying suggestions to just send the French Army to be 'attrited' and wear down France's national power, without any such considerations…

If we did that, we would truly earn the eternal hatred of the French people, and who knows what variables might arise.

It would be a great help even if the French Army did nothing but hold their positions in Finland, but if we pushed them into an extreme situation and induced a mass surrender, we'd really have to turn Paris into the City of Light (physically).

Leaving the French homeland defenseless and deploying Allied Forces was purely to reassure Britain and Belgium and to put pressure on France; it by no means meant we could treat them like a colony.

If we did that, who knows how America, which is currently a great help to us, would react, not to mention the backlash from France. If we act recklessly just because we have some power and won, what's the difference between us and the Nazis?

If we act that way, we might manage the current war, but any kind of order established by Germany would be gone forever.

Instead, we'd probably be seeing World War III.

Anyway, just by deploying the French Army to the Finnish Front, we will receive Finland's infinite gratitude, and it would be difficult for the Soviet Union to throw its forces at Finland, leaving the more favorable Eastern Front for an offensive.

Those young men of France have to work hard after the war to pay off the reparations, and you want to grind them all to dust? Before being a question of morality, it's just short-sighted.

“Excellent, just excellent.

The way you thoroughly secure Germany's profit, even from a near-death France, is honestly impressive.”

La Rocque said with a somewhat sarcastic air.

France had shown reluctance to pay this year's reparations due under the negotiations, wanting to pay in goods instead.

We didn't know at the start of the war, but according to what the Abwehr later confirmed, they had financed their rearmament by excessively issuing bonds that imitated Mefo-Wechsel bills.

Naturally, all their companies and everything else were on the verge of bankruptcy, and they had no spare capacity to pay reparations immediately.

The problem was that the expert on those Mefo-Wechsel bills was right here in Germany.

My father, Hjalmar, decided to cover this year's reparations and slightly reduce the total amount in exchange for purchasing French companies on the verge of bankruptcy at a dirt-cheap price, paying the workers their wages normally, and forcibly reviving the French economy.

The companies responsible for supplying the French Army fighting in Finland were devoured by German capital.

From France's perspective, it was a way to avoid a Second Great Depression and protect their regime, so they had to accept it through tears, and we used shell companies as an indirect method to avoid announcing the fact that Germany was acquiring France's core companies.

France went mad and did things like the Ruhr Occupation, but we have no intention of ruining the French economy that needs to pay us reparations, only to see a second Nazi rise.

There are no companies with a more guaranteed demand during wartime than defense companies, so we make money for two purposes at once, and the tax paid to the French government comes back as reparations. Isn't that great?

It was also part of the calculation that a relationship of economic dependence would be a more realistic binding force than the problem of national sentiment, which would be a long-term battle anyway.

After all, modern China faces animosity from all over the world, but it's a fact that Chinese capital still maintains its influence in its own way.

“The British withdrawal and preparations for the move to Finland by General Charles de Gaulle are proceeding in an orderly fashion, and Prime Minister Pétain has taken over the regime without any trouble.”

La Rocque gave a bitter smile at my words. The successor to La Rocque, who had resigned as Prime Minister for the handover of war criminals, was to be Philippe Pétain.

It somehow resembles Vichy France, but he was a rigid and aristocratic man who, even in the original history, tried to adhere strictly to the treaty as a defeated nation, so from Germany's perspective, he's actually trustworthy.

The most important point is that he is a thorough anti-communist and, as a hero of the last Great War, has immense influence over the military.

As long as he respects the treaty without hiding his animosity towards the Soviet Union, the French Army won't easily entertain other ideas about the already decided peace negotiations.

The relatively pro-Soviet Radical Party regime and the French left-wing were all but crushed by La Rocque, and the fact that the French military is just as far-right as the German Army paradoxically increases trust in the French Army fighting against the Soviet Union.

At the very least, France, though a defeated nation, has gained the opportunity to remain as Finland's savior and a contributor to the great war.

Whether they seize that opportunity to prove the greatness they spoke of, or simply remain a defeated nation and a nuisance to the Allied Powers, is their choice.

“I see. However…”

La Rocque looked around the room he was in.

Although nominally in custody, he had been given accommodations befitting a distinguished guest and was being cared for so that he felt no discomfort.

“For someone treated as a war criminal, this is quite generous, isn't it?”

“The former Prime Minister is being portrayed as a patriot in France.”

Pétain, who had taken power, was portraying La Rocque as a Prime Minister who, though defeated by the betrayal of an ally, took all responsibility until the very end, sacrificing himself as a war criminal to protect France.

Imagine if such a person suddenly died in prison.

Who knows how French public opinion, which is precariously being brought under control, would change?

For the same reason, and by using the fact that we had essentially saved Britain, I decided after a fierce argument with Churchill to have La Rocque managed in Germany.

“We do not intend to proceed with the war crimes trial until the end of the Soviet war, and we plan to extend every courtesy to the former Prime Minister until then.”

La Rocque stared at me for a moment before asking.

“Vice-Chancellor, do you have no feelings towards me, or towards France?”

Even if he was a patriot by French standards and had no doubt he was acting for France, France ultimately started the war.

As a result, they drove countless people, including Germans, to their deaths.

Do I have no feelings for La Rocque and France? That's impossible.

However, France was a country that, in the original course of events, would have fought against the Nazis to stop Germany.

The responsibility for isolating France, using Britain to pressure it, and thus twisting its fate like this lies with me.

“Just because the treaty says all responsibility for the war lies with France, that doesn't make it the truth.”

Article 1 of the Treaty of Versailles.

All responsibility for the war lies with the Weimar Republic and its allies.

Article 1 of the Treaty of Amsterdam.

All responsibility for the war lies with France and the Axis Powers.

Bullshit.

It's just shifting the blame, written for the convenience and calculated interests of the victorious nations.

“A politician who bears responsibility for those sacrificed in war has no right to act swayed by their own emotions.”

At my answer, La Rocque slowly closed his eyes.

Using the card of invading Britain and Belgium as a method to wage war against Germany was surely an act laden with his emotions.

After a moment of silence, La Rocque spoke as if sighing.

“The era of Versailles has truly come to an end.”

With that, my final diplomatic duty as the Vice-Chancellor of the War Cabinet was finished.